Monthly Archive for November, 2012

According to Sadowski’s technology post, The Much-Needed and Sane Congressional Office That Gingrich Killed Off and We Need Back, OTA was started because “Congress recognized that it could not afford to wander blindly forward without an organization that would bridge technical expertise and political decision-making.” To prevent “capture by a particular political party,” OTA was overseen by a balanced bipartisan congressional Board with six Members from both the House and the Senate.

Sadowski pointed out that OTA released over 750 studies on an “impressive range of topics,” including the environment, national security, health, and social issues.

The dismantling of the agency in 1995 “on the Gingrich Republican’s altar of slashed budgets” was “an unfortunate blow,” according to Sadowski. However, “there has been vocal support by many prominent scholars and politicians to either re-fund it or establish a similar method of technology assessment.”